Sunday, 24 October 2010

To the disabled people of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Bendy Girl has put out an impassioned plea for disabled people to come together as a collective, and to stand up against the abuse that so many of them face. Her appeal is quite simple: that people should tell their stories and make their voices heard.

The video is below;

The website where these stories will be collatted is The Broken Of Britain, and stories can be emailed to thebrokenofbritain@gmail.com.

It's a remarkably simple idea, but then all the best ones are. The only way that attacks on our class can be resisted is through collective resistance, and the first step to building such resistance is organising people. Letting them know that they're not alone, and that they can speak up.

This is what Bendy Girl is trying to start, and it is already starting to grow into something viable.

At present, it is only on the internet, true, but that is a valuable organising tool. It is also the only lifeline for many people with disabilities, as was pointed out numerous times after Nadine Dorries's utterly twattish rant about Twitter users. This makes it the perfect base camp for such a campaign.

More, if it can connect with on-the-ground movements, such as the Disabled Peoples' Direct Action Network, it could develop from pressure into active resistane. And, given how bullish the present government is being over austerity for the poor to bail out the rich, that will almost certainly be a neccessity.

Especially in the present climate, every sign that ordinary people are willing to take action for themselves has to be welcomed. What Bendy Girl has initiated, therefore, is one of the most positive signs yet that the government may habe at least a serious fightback on their hands.